“High levels of sovereign debt in advanced economies are of interest to Congress for a number of reasons. First, the IMF has identified advanced economy debt as a possible threat to the global economic recovery, as countries struggle to find a balance between growth and debt management in an uncertain global economic recovery. Second, Congress has and continues to debate a number of fiscal issues, particularly in the context of federal budget and the debt ceiling. In many of these fiscal debates, parallels are drawn between the United States and other advanced economies, such as Greece, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. Analyzing debt levels and factors that shape debt sustainability can help inform these comparisons. Third, how other countries reduce their debt impacts the U.S. economy. Most advanced economies are implementing fiscal austerity programs to lower their debt levels. Simultaneous austerity programs in the advanced countries, the United States’ major trading partners, could depress demand for U.S. exports abroad, as well as deter investment in and from advanced economies.”

Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity – Executive Order 13636 – Preliminary Cybersecurity Framework – November 1, 2013 [snipped] “The Framework Core is a set of cybersecurity activities and references that are common across critical infrastructure sectors organized around particular outcomes. The Core presents standards and best practices in a manner that allows for communication of cybersecurity risk across the organization… Continue Reading

FCC FAQ: “You may be one of many consumers who have received emails saying you’re about to be assaulted by unwanted telemarketing calls to your wireless phone. Rest assured that placing telemarketing calls to wireless phones is – and always has been – illegal in most cases. Contrary to what some email campaigns are saying,… Continue Reading

BY TRACIE WHITE – ILLUSTRATIONS BY JEFFREY DECOSTER “Cursed with some of the highest suicide rates in the country, tribal leaders declared a state of emergency here back in 2007 making headlines in The New York Times. But today, six years later, not much has changed. Across the United States, American Indian and Alaska Native youth ages… Continue Reading

Via Scott Shane this investigative report – “From thousands of classified documents, the National Security Agency emerges as an electronic omnivore of staggering capabilities, eavesdropping and hacking its way around the world to strip governments and other targets of their secrets, all the while enforcing the utmost secrecy about its own operations. It spies routinely on friends as well as… Continue Reading

Trends in global CO2 emissions: 2013 Report and the Link to the interactive presentation “Actual global emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) reached a new record of 34.5 billion tonnes in 2012. Yet, the increase in global CO2 emissions in that year slowed down to 1.1% , which was less than half the average annual increase of 2.9%… Continue Reading

“The world’s urban population is forecast to grow by about 1.4 billion to 5 billion between 2011 and 2030, with 90% of the increase coming in the emerging markets. Swiss Re’s latest sigma study Urbanisation in emerging markets: boon and bane for insurers reviews the rapid growth of towns and cities in emerging markets. It… Continue Reading

“For the first time in human history more people live in cities than in rural areas. The United Nations expects 6.3 billion people or 68% of the world’s population to be living in urban areas by 2050, with the highest increase occurring in high growth markets. Many of these cities are located on the coast and are threatened by… Continue Reading

“Annenberg Learner uses media and telecommunications to advance excellent teaching in American schools. This mandate is carried out chiefly by the funding and broad distribution of educational video programs with coordinated Web and print materials for the professional development of K-12 teachers. It is part of The Annenberg Foundation and advances the Foundation’s goal of encouraging the… Continue Reading

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Sabrina is also the solo Editor, Publisher and Founder of LLRX.com® – Legal, technology and knowledge discovery resources on the “moving edge” for Librarians, Lawyers, Researchers, Academic and Public Interest Communities – launched in 1996.